Buckle



F. A. RUSS. BUCKLE. APPLICATION FILED 3.19, 1919.

Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

INVENTOR {7mm JZ, Jim

A I III] ATTOR N EY "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEND A. RUSS, OF GREENWICI-I, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT N. BASSETT COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF SHELTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

Application filed February 19, 1919. Serial No. 278,063.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRIEND A. Boss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenwich, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buckles, of which the following is a speci fication.

My invention relates to buckles of the kind generally used on hose supporters, suspenders and like articles, and its object is to provide a buckle of this character in which the back member is reinforced to resist the wedging action of the lever member. A further object is to provide a buckle in which the back member is provided with means for securing the end of the webbing without resorting to the expedient of sewing or stitching.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I have embodied the same in the new and improved buckle set forth in the following description and accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to corresponding parts.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of my buckle strung with webbing a portion of the lever and webbing being shown broken away;

Fig. 2, a central vertical section of the buckle shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, an end view before the webbing is attached, and

Fig. 4, a sectional view of a modification.

My buckle generally comprises the back or frame A and the lever B. The back A is suitably blanked and struck up out of a single piece of sheet metal to form the back plate 2 having the forwardly turned side ears 3, 3, which latter are provided with apertures 4, 4. The back plate 2' is provided with an elongated extension on its upper end which is folded downwardly between the ears against the front face of the back plate to form the wall 5 and then bent outwardly to form the forwardly projecting lip 6 as shown in Fig. 3. The lower extremity 7 of the back plate is bent slightly forward for a purpose which will hereinafter be described.

The lever B is also bent up out of a single piece of sheet metal to form the front portion 8, the web engaging edge 9 and the laterally projecting trunnions 10, 10, which latter when the buckle is assembled are journaled in the apertures 4, 1 in the side ears 3, 3. The webbing C has one of its extremities 7a fastened to the back A by inserting it downwardly between the lever and back wall 5, after which the lip 6 is pressed down in a suitable machine so that the extremity k becomes securely gripped between the wall 5 and lip 6. The extremity is being thus secured, the free or moving portion of the webbing is passed rearwardly over the top edge of the back, then downwardly below the back and then upwardly between. the lever and the back plate into the upper reach of the webbing. Then the lever B is shut down so that the buckle is closed the web gripping edge 9 cooperates with the top portion of the back wall 5 above the edge of the lip 6 to securely grip the moving portion of the webbing. The buckle strung in this manner forms an adjustable loop in the webbing which carries the cast-off member D. The length of the lip G is such that it does not interfere with the cooperation ofthe lever and the upper portion of the back and the back plate 2 is provided with an extension 7 properly positioned to serve as a balancing member when the webbing is under stress. The three layers of metal formed by folding the back plate back and forth in the manner described, serve to strengthen the back where it cooperates with the lever edge when the buckle is being opened and closed. This reinforcing of the back prevents the same from bending or flexing, which it is liable to do in the buckles for the wider webbing, especially when the buckles are made of a light gage of sheet metal. By folding the metal back and forth-in the manner described, I am enabled to form an upwardly projecting lip along the upper portion of the back of a width just wide enough to secure an effective grip on the webbing and at the same time make the back considerably longer than the width of the lip for the purpose of giving the same a long body and of properly balancing the buckle. This is a result which cannot be obtained in the present style of buckle, wherein the lip is formed by bending upwardly the bottom edge 'of the back plate. This feature of having the edge of the lip' terminate adjacent to the top of the back enables the top edge of the lip to present a snap over edge to the edge of the webgripping member 9 when the buckle is being closed, and also enables the web-gripping member of the lever to cooperate with the under layer of the webbing at the extreme top edge of the back. The forming of the lip 6 of the length just described also en ables it to grip the webbing in a position to one side of a horizontal line passed through the bearing apertures so that when the lever is turned to its open position, as shown in Fig. 3, the web-gripping lip is accessible to swaging tools after the back and lever members are assembled.

It will be readily understood from the above description that only so much of the Webbing as is essential for gripping purposes passes over the front face of the back so that a minimum length may be employed. It will be further understood that should the lip be made very narrow and the back be cut off at the bottom of the lip the buckle would become impractical since it would not only be liable to turn over inside the folds of the webbing but would not be of sufficient length to give the proper leverage for opening and closing the buckle. It should further be observed that substan tially the same amount of metal is employed as in the present style of buckles hereinbefore referred to since the extra length of back is about the same as would be required in the blanks of those buckles before the lip is turned up.

My invention is not confined to folding the metal in the manner above described since the back plate may be folded in other ways provided three layers of metal are presented between two of which the webbing may be secured. A modification is shown in Fig. 4c in which the back A consists of the back plate 11 provided with an elongated extension on its lower end which is folded upwardly between the ears to form the lip 12 and then bent downwardly against the front face of the lip to form the wall 13. This wall 13 may be extended to project'below the lip 12 if desired to form a balancing member. The end 72 of the webbing is secured between the lip 12 and the back plate 11 in the usual manner. It is understood that the lever may be journaled in any other suitable manner than that shown, provided the same is mounted to cooperate with the back for adjusting the moving portion of the webbing.

Wherever I have used the term back memher it is to be understood that I refer to that part of the buckle with which the lever cooperates since the device may be used in such a way that the lever member might be regarded as the back member of the buckle. While I have shown my invention applied to the buckle herein illustrated and described yet it is obvious that it may be applied to other buckles wherever applicable provided the same come fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A buckle having a lever and back, the said back comprising a sheet metal plate bent back and forth upon itself to form a plurality of layers ofmetal which can be pressed together to reinforce the back and to confine a portion of the webbing,and the said lever being arranged to cooperate with said reinforced portion of the back when'the buckle is opened and closed.

2. A buckle of the kind in which a lever cooperates with a reinforced portion of the back when the buckle is opened and closed, characterized by the fact that the reinforced portion consists of a sheet metal plate folded back and forth upon itself to form a plurality of layers of metal which are pressed together.

3. A buckle comprising 'a' sheet metal back plate one extremity of which is doubled on itself and folded against one of the face portions of the back forming three layers of metal between two of which is confined a portion of a running webbing.

4. A buckle for running webbing having a lever and sheet metal back plate, the said back plate having its upper extremity folded downwardly and then upwardly to form a web gripping lip. the top edge of which terminates adjacent to the top edge of the back, and the said lever being arranged to cooperate with the back above said edge when the buckle is closed.

5. A buckle comprising a swinging lever and a sheet metal back, the said back having its upper extremity folded downwardly and then upwardly to form a web-gripping lip the top edge of which terminates adjacent'to the top edge of the back in a position to form a snap-over edge and to hold the webbing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of February, 1919.

- FRIEND A. RUSS. 

